As Maisel describes it, the project "has as its source material x-rays of art objects that date from antiquity through just prior to the invention of photography. The x-rays have been culled from museum conservation archives, re-photographed and re-worked."

The results are both eerie and meditative, the raw shock of a dream wed with the surprise that you are suddenly seeing inside something, into the hollows or internal structure that gives it form.

Maisel continues, pointing out that the x-raying of objects has "historically been used for the structural examination of art and artifacts much as physicians examine bones and internal organs; it reveals losses, replacements, methods of construction, and internal trauma that may not be visible to the naked eye. The resulting prints of History's Shadow make the invisible visible, and express through photographic means the shape-shifting nature of time itself, and the continuous presence of the past contained within us."

Indeed, some of the most fascinating moments in the series are where the internal seams, clips, braces, and other fasteners become visible through the use of x-rays. These are the invisible marks of both creation and conservation, scars hidden from view yet formative of and fundamental to the object we see.

These are just a few examples from the show—which is well worth stopping by to see in person if you find yourself stateside. It closes May 10. [Yancey Richardson Gallery]